Demonstration Programs

The New Jersey Safe Routes to
School (SRTS) Program is
the result of a series
of planning and developmental
activities resulting in
a comprehensive and flexible
strategy to assist New
Jersey communities in developing
and implementing projects
that encourage safe walking
and bicycling to school.
One key to the success
of the New Jersey SRTS
Program was to "test the
waters" with two pilot
demonstration programs.
The lessons learned in
these early stages helped
to shape and guide the
program over time.

In 2005, the Demonstration Program
consisted of pilot testing
the New Jersey SRTS program
in three communities -
urban, suburban and rural
- to determine the similarities
and differences among these
three community types.
In 2008, the purpose of
the Urban Demonstration
Program was to determine
what obstacles to SRTS
exist in New Jersey's cities,
to verify how they are
different from the challenges
faced in other areas of
the state and to develop
a quality SRTS Action Plan
for six urban schools that
could be replicated elsewhere.
In 2009, the Urban Demonstration
Program was extended to
two additional schools.

2005
- New Jersey SRTS Demonstration Program

This demonstration program
explored the ways New
Jersey public schools and municipalities
could collaborate in launching SRTS activities
by conducting a trial run in three New
Jersey communities. The outcomes were
a list of short- and long-term physical
improvements recommended for the walking
and biking infrastructure and a collaborative
Action Plan outlining future school-led
SRTS activity. Schools were selected
based on applications that demonstrated
that both the schools and municipalities
together were "ready,
willing and able" to participate.
Objectives were to select schools representing
a range of conditions, such as community
context (urban, suburban, rural) and
geographic location.

Goal: To
establish a network of people
who could advance SRTS initiatives
that are responsive to the
unique needs of the school
and community.

Process: To
bring together people from
diverse organizations who could apply
their insight, skills and powers
to create the conditions necessary
for students to walk and bike to
school.

Each school and municipality
identified a lead coordinator who
acted as a liaison among the school,
the municipality, the community
advocates and the consultant team.

With the help of the Transportation
Management Assocations (TMAs),
the coordinators:

organized a SRTS Workshop: “A Day of Discovery”

conducted student and parent surveys

gathered key information to
identify issues and opportunities

Results: Action
Plans were prepared for
each school/municipality. Each action plan recommends priority projects and activities that the school,

municipality and community
can advance to promote
safe walking and biking
to school.

2008 - New Jersey SRTS Urban
Demonstration Program
The purpose of the New Jersey SRTS Urban Demonstration Program
was to fulfill the objectives of the
Federal

Highway
Administration's (FHWA)
SRTS Program Development
Guidance in providing technical
assistance to diverse
participants (urban, rural and disadvantaged)
to ensure that they can "fairly
compete for SRTS funds". Two schools
were selected in Trenton, in Camden and
in Newark based on the severity of pedestrian
crashes, their designated status as "Major
Urban Centers/Urban Aid Communities" or "Abbott
School Districts", unsuccessful
2007 SRTS funding applications and previous
requests to the New Jersey Department
of Transportation (NJDOT) regarding SRTS
concerns. With the understanding that
the majority of students in these schools
were already walking, the New Jersey
SRTS Urban Demonstration Program resulted
in six unique community SRTS Action Plans
that provided the tools and resources
to improve the students' walking or bicycling
trips to and from school within the context
and culture of their neighborhoods.

Goal: Ensure
that all children, regardless
of where they live, can
benefit from SRTS
programs.

Process: The
Program actively engaged
urban school and community
members, including its youth,
to become resources of empowerment
and stewards for behavior
change. Challenges and opportunities
were identified through
a series of interviews,
research, filed investigations
and workshops.

Results: Six
unique community SRTS Programs that,
with school and community commitment,
provide the tools and resources to phase
in changes for improving students'
walking and biking trips to school.

2009 - New Jersey SRTS Extended
Urban Demonstration Program
Given the commitment to SRTS exhibited
by the Camden stakeholders, the unique
partnership established between neighboring
public and charter schools, and at the
City's request, NJDOT agreed to provide
additional resources to help Camden jumpstart
their city-wide SRTS program. In 2009,
NJDOT launched their Extended New Jersey
Safe Routes to School Urban Demonstration
Program in Camden, which built on lessons
learned from the previous Urban Demonstration
Program, and provided SRTS assistance
to two additional Camden schools.

Goal and
Process: As an extension
of the Urban Demonstration
Program, this effort
followed the same goal
and process.